


Lilies and Lions

by gamergirldancer01



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route Spoilers, Hanahaki Disease, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Spoilers for Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Unrequited Love, no beta we die like Gleen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:35:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27363598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gamergirldancer01/pseuds/gamergirldancer01
Summary: Annette had heard stories when she was younger about a supposed disease one could get when you loved someone who didn't love you back. She always shrugged it off as an old wives tale. Who could actually cough up flowers anyways? However, she was about to learn just how real this hanahaki disease really was.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	Lilies and Lions

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this purely as self indulgence writing. NetteFlix are my babies and I love reading and writing them. I also recently learned how beautiful hanahaki fics are so I wanted to try writing one.

Annette had always been fond of the romance tales her mother would tell her. The ones about soulmates or the hero swooping in to win the girl's hand at the last minute. Even the more tragic ones where the lovers died side by side or one grew old and alone without the other. The only one she couldn't believe was the one about the so called hanahaki disease. Someone coughing up flower petals because they loved someone who didn't love them back seemed ridiculous. Flowers couldn't just appear in a person's lungs. It was just an old wives tale; always had been.

Even so, Annette had often thought about what it would be like to fall in love. When she got accepted into the Officer's Academy, she wondered if she would meet her future husband there. After all, many nobles who wound up there ended up meeting their spouses during their studies at Garreg Mach. But by the time she was finally situated at her desk in the Blue Lions classroom, all thoughts of falling in love were pushed aside. Even when Professor Byleth tasked her with helping Felix learn and understand reason magic. She wanted nothing more than to maybe become friends with the irritable swordsman.

Until the day he almost died protecting her.

It was the day Edelgard had attacked the Holy Tomb. After Dimitri had snapped and become a raging beast, the Lions fought their hardest to protect the tomb from Edelgard's attack. Annette and Ashe had been fighting side by side and hadn't noticed they were being driven into a corner. When Annette had felt a stone coffin at her back, she knew there was nowhere to run from the demonic beast and armored knight heading towards them. Annette was too busy holding off the beast that she didn't have time to react as the armored knight swung his axe at her. What would have been a fatal blow to her was stopped by a shoulder coming between her and the axe. Annette had been terrified as she watched Felix collapse in front of her. She had thrown a bolganone at the knight before dropping to her knees to try to heal her friend to the best of her ability. She managed to stabilize him enough that he wouldn't bleed out before they could get him to the infirmary. It was then that she realized one of her greatest fears was losing him.

It wasn't until a few days after the attack on the Holy Tomb that Annette started feeling a little tickle in the back of her throat. She knew now was not the best time to get sick. They had to prepare Garreg Mach for the worst after all. But a small cold wasn't gonna stop her from preparing as much as possible.

A week later, the small tickle had grown into an occasional dry cough. She mentioned it to Mercedes who told her to continue to take care of herself and to talk with Manuela if things seemed to get worse. So she continued on with things as normal as they could be. If Mercie wasn't worried, why should she be? Annette got so caught up in all the war preparations that she didn't notice the morning she woke up with a flower petal near her pillow.

She noticed the petal when she was getting ready for bed that night. She picked up what appeared to be a lily petal before moving to close her bedroom window. She wasn't sure where the white petal had come from but assumed it had blown in through the window. She brushed it off again as she coughed a few times before crawling into bed.

This time when she woke up, she was startled to find not one, but three new lily petals beside her on her sheets. Alarms instantly started going off in her head as she remembered the old stories her mother would tell her. Annette didn't hesitate before grabbing the flower petals and scurrying off to the infirmary to see Manuela. And it was there her fears were confirmed.

"I'm afraid there's no mistaking it," the healer sighed. "It is in fact hanahaki disease. A case of unrequited love."

"What does that mean for me?" Annette asked

"Well there are options. Obviously the most desired outcome would be a return of that love you clearly feel for another. You could also fall out of love with said person and the disease would go away on its own. However, if you continue on like this, loving someone else in this way without their love in return, it could have a grave outcome in the end."

Annette flinched. "In other words.... It could be a death sentence."

Manuela opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again before giving a small nod. "Based on what few recorded cases of this disease we have, it appears the severity of the disease varies from one person to the next. In some people, the disease advances quickly and they don't last much more than a year. Others can last three decades before the succumb to the disease. Someone with your health record I would expect decades, but it is hard to predict."

"Thank you Professor Manuela," Annette began to make her way toward the door. "You've given me much to think about."

"Of course dear. Now I must ask; do you know who it is?"

The question made Annette pause in the doorway. She considered telling the healer what she suspected. Instead her gaze dropped to the floor as she left the infirmary behind her. Her gaze never left the floor as she ran back to her room. When she got back, she slammed the door behind her and collapsed on the bed. The moment her face hit the pillow she started sobbing. She didn't leave her room that day. Her only human interaction was when Mercie knocked on her door to bring her dinner. She didn't let Mercie in though because she didn't want her best friend to worry about the few flower petals now scattered around her bed.

Annette didn't want any of her classmates to worry about her condition so she continued to do her best to hide it. Every morning she would give herself extra time to clean up and take care of new flower petals, and make sure she had a clean handkerchief for the day. She was thankful her coughing wasn't too often yet. And everyone seemed to caught up in the impending war to pay much attention to her occasional cough. Only Professor Byleth confronted her about it a couple days after she had gone to visit Manuela. And of course she told the professor the truth.

Not that that mattered for more than a week. Because before the professor had another opportunity to talk with Annette about her disease, they were knocked off a cliff. And Annette's world crumbled around her.

The blue lions scattered like leaves in the wind. Annette fled to Dominic territory with Mercie by her side. It wasn't until they were on the edge of Dominic territory that Annette and Mercie finally broke down in tears over what had happened. However Annette's sobs soon turned into wracking coughs. She wasn't fast enough in bringing her handkerchief to her face and couldn't hide the lily petals that fell from between her lips. Mercedes sobs cut off as she grabbed her friend in concern.

"Annie, are you alright?!" Mercedes gasped. "What's happened to you?!"

Annette sobbed again. "Oh Mercie..."

"How long have you known about this?"

"A few weeks... Little less."

"Annie..."

That night was the hardest Annette had ever cried. And it also ended up as the night she coughed up the most flower petals to date. She was thankful the next morning when her coughing had obviously slowed. She didn't want to worry her mother with it right away.

The first three days home after the fall of Garreg Mach, Annette did well at hiding her condition from her mother. She was able to pass off the soft coughing as something she picked up on the road. But then Annette finally plucked up the courage to unpack her bag of belongings from school. At the bottom was a book of sheet music with an owl feather makeshift bookmark. She held it in her hands a moment and ran her fingers across the cover. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as she thought about when the professor had gifted her both the book and the feather. She began sobbing again as the tears started pouring down her cheeks. She didn't care that she was kneeling on her bedroom floor bawling her eyes out as she began to choke and cough. She barely acknowledged the petals she coughed up this time. Until she heard her mother gasp from the doorway.

"Annette..."

Annette gave another hard cough causing more lily petals to fall to the floor before looking up at her mother with tears in her eyes. "I... I'm sorry Mother."

"Sweetheart no," her mother moved to neal beside her daughter. "You have nothing to apologise for. Please, just tell me everything."

And so, Annette did just that. Well... Almost. She knew if she told her mother that the one she had fallen for was the only surviving Fraldarius heir, she would never hear the end of it. Especially with the world turned upside down. But she made sure to explain all that Manuela had told her about the horrible disease. All the while trying to surpress her tears and slow her coughing. By the time she was done, she just sat there on the floor of her bedroom, numb to all except her mother's arms wrapped around her.

* * *

Weeks turned into months and Annette's condition didn't change much. Until the day the news spread across Faerghus. Prince Dimitri Blaiddyd was to be executed for assassinating his uncle. When the news reached Dominic, Annette's knees gave out beneath her in shock. Her mother dropped the teacup she had been holding. Her uncle reached for a nearby wall to steady himself.

And Annette wept.

At first she sat there too stunned to react. All she could think about was the kind prince who would do anything for his classmates. Then she saw in her mind's eye his reaction when the Flame Emperor's real identity had been revealed to them. How even the professor couldn't stop Dimitri from his bloodlust. And with that image in her head, Annette broke down.

It was then, as she mourned the loss of the friend she knew, and the stated execution of her prince, that her disease started to get worse. As she sobbed alone on the floor, she began to choke on her tears. As she coughed in between sobs, more petals continued to spill from her lips. Where it had been one or two petals every couple of coughs before, more petals began to come up at once. But Annette couldn't bring herself to care. All she could think about was how her world was continuing to fall apart around her every which way.

When her tears had run dry that day, a tightness settled in her lungs that refused to leave.

Within the next two weeks, a series of letters came in, all addressed to Annette. First came the letter from Mercedes, telling Annette where she was and sharing a memory from their time with Dimitri. A day later was a letter from Ashe letting her know he and his siblings were okay. Then came Ingrid's letter, alerting her of the approaching power split in Faerghus and what side Count Galatea was likely to side with. Sylvain's letter was mostly the same, with some additional flowery words of encouragement. The last one made Annette's heart flutter as her eyes landed on the crest of Fraldarius seal. However reading the letter proved to be a disappointment as it was much the same as Ingrid and Sylvain's letters. The only difference was the signature at the bottom.

" _Please stay safe - Felix._ "

Annette barely managed to turn her head before coughing all over the letter. She continued to cough lily petals into her handkerchief as she tried to calm both her breathing and her heart. Just seeing his name signed at the bottom was enough to make her heart flip. She knew she should care more about the contents of the rest of the letter, Cornelia rising in power, bandits and assassins moving through Faerghus in droves, Lord Rodrigue deciding to lead the resistance against the Empire. But none of it mattered to her more than just hearing from Felix. _Please stay safe._

* * *

Months soon became years as the conditions in Faerghus continued to decline. And with the decline of the country came the decline of Annette's health. Her chest always felt tight. The jogs she used to take daily were removed from her routine because she couldn't breathe enough for them. She never went anywhere without carrying a handkerchief anymore. She would use it to catch flower petals as she excused herself to somewhere more private. Often when it got late on a particularly exhausing day, she would find herself hacking up flower buds instead of just petals. Many nights her coughing would disrupt her sleep causing her to have dark circles uner her eyes often. Her mother had noticed how pale Annette had gotten. But worst of all was the blood.

When Annette had first coughed up blood, her mother had immediately sent for the physician that had been checking in on Annette every once in a while. She had been terrified. It _hurt_. Everyone knew coughing up blood was a bad sign, but Annette had never expected it to hurt so much to do so. And the lily petals forcing themselves out of her throat didn't help. When the physician left, he told her and her mother that she'd be lucky to see another five years if her situation didn't improve. The thought of having less than five years left to live scared Annette more than anything ever had before.

That had been during the Horsebow Moon of the year 1183. For the next two years, Annette tried to find ways to make the most of what little time she had left. Although considering she was essentially on house arrest by her uncle, that wasn't much. Until Mercedes showed up again in Dominic territory at the dawn of the Etherial Moon of the year 1185. Of course Annette had launched herself into her friend's arms when she got there. But Mercedes proposition afterwards caught her off guard.

"I came so the two of us could head to Garreg Mach together," Mercedes explained. "For the Millenium Festival."

"But Mercie," Annette hesitated. "There... Is no Millenium Festival."

"Not officially, but we made our classmates and the professor a promise. So I plan to go and see them."

Annette swallowed the lump in her throat and felt it burn. "Mercie... I... I can't go with you to Garreg Mach."

"Oh Annie; I've already figured out how to break you out of house arrest. No need to worry about that."

"No, Mercie... I don't think I could physically go that far. My... My lungs aren't what they used to be."

"But Annie I-"

As if she planned it, that "lump" Annette had swallowed came back to bite her. She brought her handkerchief to her lips as fast as she could as she felt herself start to cough up petals. She stepped away from Mercedes a bit as she tried to get her hacking under control. However Mercedes moved to her side and placed one hand on her friend's shoulder and another over her chest. Annette felt the gentle warmth of healing magic coming from Mercedes' palm. The gentle magic allowed her to regain her breath soon enough and stop her coughing.

When she was certain she wouldn't cough up more petals for a little bit, she removed her handkerchief and looked down at it. She stared down at the collection of lily petals and buds. She heard Mercedes gasp beside her as she noticed what Annette had seen. Most of the petals were spattered with drops of blood, as well as the handkerchief itself. While it wasn't new to Annette, she also hadn't seen Mercedes in almost three years at that point.

"Oh Annie," Mercedes began as she enveloped Annette in another hug. "You should have told me it was getting worse."

"I didn't want to worry you. It's not like there's anything you can do about it anyways."

"Are you sure? I know that my magic can only do so much for you, but maybe I could help other ways. Maybe..."

Mercedes fell quiet as she thought for a moment.

"Maybe I could help you find him."

Annette froze before pulling herself out of her best friend's arms. "No Mercie. I know where he is. I just... I doubt he would ever love me back."

"But don't you want to find out?"

Annette sighed before shaking her head. "If I say I'll go with your for the Millenium Festival, will you drop this?"

Mercedes gave her friend a soft smile as she nodded. Annette could see the concern in her eyes, but she knew Mercie would hold true to her word. She had never been more thankful for her best friend.

Mercedes stayed with house Dominic for the next week under the guise of trying to help improve Annette's hanahaki. Annette was thankful for the time with her friend. After not seeing Mercie for three years, the two of them were almost inseperable. If not for the flower petals she kept coughing up, Annette could pretend that nothing had changed for the two of them.

After the week was up, Mercedes and Annette grabbed their packed bags in the middle of the night and fled house Dominic. When they reached an inn near the edge of the territory, Mercedes made arrangements with a merchant to borrow one of his horses. When Annette asked, Mercedes gave her a smile as she handed her a new handkerchief she had also bought off the merchant.

The two of them made good time as they snuck through the Faerghus countryside. It didn't take Annette long to decide she was thankful for the horse Mercedes had borrowed. While the two of them had started on foot walking together, it didn't take long before her lungs started to burn with the exertion. They paused just long enough for Annette to mount the gentle steed before continuing on. Both girls spent time on and off the horse as they made their way to Garreg Mach.

Finally the place they had once called home for about a year of their lives loomed above them. Annette took note of the scattered bodies of bandits in what had once been a flourishing town below the gates. She exchanged looks with Mercedes as the two of them turned their attention upon the old monestary. They had finally arrived. And they could hear the ring of metal clashing up ahead.

* * *

Annette barely held herself together during the battle. Emotional overload tried to reduce her to a pile of flower petals and blood. Not only was Felix there causing her heart to ache, but the professor was there; Dimitri too, even if he seemed changed. As soon as the battle was ended, Annette found herself a corner behind a crumbled wall to hack up a pile of lily petals. When she returned, Mercedes shot her a sympathetic glance from where she stood beside Ingrid. Luckily nobody asked where Annette had gone.

With Garreg Mach secured, the Lions set up in the monestary, deciding now was the time to take a stand against the emperor. Messages were sent almost immediately to close supporters they knew would join them. Annette personally made sure a message was sent to Manuela. She needed to know how much time she had left before...

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Annette jumped up from her bed in her old dorm and hurried over to the door. She was plesantly surprised to open her door to find the professor standing there waiting.

"May I come in?" Byleth asked.

"Oh! Of course Professor!" Annette opened the door a bit more to allow the professor in. "Come on in!"

Byleth stepped in as Annette closed the door behind them. She could see they were surveying the room as they made their way over to where she had just been sitting on the bed. Annette spotted a bloodstained handkerchief on her desk and subtly moved to grab it before Byleth could notice it. Just as she tucked it into her jacket pocket, Byleth turned around to look at her.

"Are you alright Annette?"

"Professor?"

"I haven't forgotten what you told me five years ago. To me it feels like it was only a week ago. But I asked Manuela after you told me... So how are you?"

"I..." Annette paused as she thought about how much to tell the professor. Then she sighed. "I wish I could say I was over it, but... It just keeps getting worse... I need Professor Manuela to come back so I can speak with her."

Byleth nodded. "And the others? How much do they know?"

Annette flinched. She didn't doubt that the professor saw it. "Only Mercie knows about it... I haven't seen anyone else in five years Professor... I didn't want to worry anybody else... And quite honestly I was hoping it would go away."

The professor stayed and talked with Annette for a while longer before taking their leave. Annette thought about what she had said to Byleth about her friends as she pulled the blood spattered handkerchief out of her pocket. She sighed as she stared at it. She knew she would have to tell everyone about it soon enough. She didn't want to endanger them on the battlefield by a coughing fit.

* * *

A week went by and Mercie was still the only Lion that knew. Manuela arrived and told Annette that she'd be lucky to see year 1187 at the rate her illness was spreading. Annette was terrified. Yet she still didn't know how to tell her classmates. So she continued to pretend everything was fine. When Sylvain asked if she was alright because she looked pale, she lied and said it was probably from the sudden change in dietary and sleeping habits. When Ingrid asked why she was absent from the training grounds more than she used to, she said she was helping church staff in restoring the monestary. When Ashe found a bloody handkerchief that fell from her pocket, she claimed she had used it to help clean an orphan boy's cut knee. And when her father stopped her to ask why she often looked so sad when she was by herself, she just shoved past him with an "I'm fine".

A month soon came and went and Annette was proud of herself for keeping her fits together during yet another important battle. Once the battle was over, she quickly retreated to her room with Mercedes not far behind. The smoke from the fires had aggravated her lungs causing her coughing to burn more than ever before. She was in too much pain as she coughed up petals and blood that she didn't notice the pounding on her door or someone calling out her name until the door swung open causing Mercedes to hastily step between her friend and the door.

"Annette?!"

The only response Annette could muster was another wracking cough that came with blood and a lily bud.

"Ingrid?! What are you doing here?!" Mercedes asked as she tried to hide Annette behind her.

"Sylvain and Felix sent me to check up on you two since you left the battlefield so quickly, but what is going on?!"

At this point Annette was gasping for breath trying to get something in her lungs that wasn't petals. Tears were starting to prick at her eyes as well.

"Annette what has happened to you?!"

"She's sick Ingrid! Can't you see that?! Please, she didn't want any of you to see her like this, she needs rest."

"But-"

"Ingrid leave, please."

Ingrid hesitated and looked over the older girl's shoulder at Annette. Concern filled her eyes, but she turned and hurried out of the room. Annette let out a choked sob bringing Mercedes back to her side. The cat was out of the bag now. The Lions would know.

Sure enough, when Annette entered the dining hall the next morning, several pairs of eyes were immediately on her and their chatter was cut off abrubtly. Annette almost fled in shame until Ashe offered her a plate of breakfast with a small smile. She accepted and made her way over to the table where most of the Blue Lions sat together. Unknowingly, she sat directly across from Felix who's piercing gaze seemed to drill into her thoughts. She quickly dropped her gaze to her plate and tried to ignore the swordsman's glare.

While she didn't tell them everything, by the end of the week, the Blue Lions all knew about what had been plaguing Annette for five years. They were all more than willing to help Annette in any way they could. She nearly broke down into tears, causing herself to need to excuse herself.

Within a month, Annette relized how thankful she was to have her friends again. Her father however, was another story.

When they arrived with Rodrigue's troops from Ailel, Gilbert confronted Annette about her health the moment they got back to Garreg Mach. She felt rage bubble up as he reprimanded her for not taking care of herself. She didn't even wait for him to finish before she stormed off towards the training grounds. She barely waited until she was on the grounds proper before lauching a fireball at a target. She cast Fire four more times in anger until a gloved hand clasped her wrist. Annette spun on her heel and was shocked to find Felix gazing down at her.

"I think you've thoroughly killed your enemy," he said casually.

"Ooooooh," some of Annette's rage died as her heart flip flopped in her chest. "I wasn't- I was just- You see I-"

"Enough, I understand."

Annette blinked. "You do?"

"Pretty sure the whole camp heard the argument I had with my old man after we left Ailel. You two may have been more private, but I still saw him drag you off with a stern look on his face."

"I just... It's not my fault I've been cursed with this disease. I've been doing the best I can. But there's nothing I can do about it. I'm stuck with it and will just have to deal with it. I don't care if it's a death sentence."

"I'm sure there's something you could do-"

"No, there's not. Hanahaki is the disease of unrequited love, and I..."

Felix watched as Annette opened and closed her mouth a few times before sighing and shaking her head.

"No Felix, there's nothing I can do about it... I'll see you tomorrow."

Even after Annette left the training grounds, Felix continued to watch the doors she had left out of.

"A death sentence eh?"

* * *

The war blazed on. The Lions were beginning to grow weary. They had gained some allies, lost others. They had won some battles, and had narrowly escaped with their lives in others. Every one of them felt the drain of war heavy on their shoulders as they trudged on. Annette in particular could feel the heavy toll war was taking on her health. Manuela had noticed it too. Annette began to pray that she at least be allowed the time to see the war through to the end.

Finally, the end of the war was in sight. The Lions agreed to march upon For Merceus before moving on to Enbar. Merceus would not fall easy, this they knew. Byleth made sure that nobody was alone as they headed into battle.

Annette found herself side by side with Felix and Mercedes as the three of them took on the Death Knight. Mercedes has confided in Annette the night before about her relation to the black-clad knight. She felt sorry for her best friend knowing how this battle was likely to play out. Sure enough, with Felix charging him repeatedly and Annette and Mercedes throwing spell after spell upon him, the Death Knight was soon brought to his kness before them. Mercedes knelt before him and removed his helmet revealing the face of Professor Jeritza behind the mask. He whispered something in her ear causing tears to start dripping down her face. Before either Felix or Annette could speak, Mercedes placed her palm over his heart and released a fully charged Ragnarok spell.

As Jeritza (Emile, Annette reminded herself) collapsed to the ground, the smell of burning flesh hit Annette full force. Between that, the exhaustion settling in from a long battle, and the emotional drain, Annette quickly felt the flowers trying to crawl up her throat. She started hacking and coughing with more force than she had in a while. The battle raged on around her, but Annette couldn't focus on anything else as she collapsed to her knees. Petals and buds alike fell from her lips and she noticed with concern that there were now even half bloomed flowers. Not only that, but she was coughing up full gobs of blood with every breath. At this point it seemed like she was almost throwing up blood with how violent the fit was getting.

Annette was running out of oxygen as she hacked. Even with Mercedes kneeling beside her casting one heal spell after another. She was beginning to feel dizzy from the blood and oxygen loss. She started to sway a little as her vision swam. She couldn't hear when Felix knelt down at her other side and called to her. She couldn't even feel when he pulled her arm over his shoulder, ignoring the blood and flower petals still forcing their way out of her lungs. Annette was faintly conscious of a hand on her cheek before she blacked out.

* * *

When Annette awoke again, she found herself on a cot in a tent. She turned her head to see if anyone was around and was surprised to find Felix sitting beside her cot cleaning his sword. She opened her mouth to speak but couldn't let out more than a hoarse squeak with how raw her throat felt. Luckily that squeak was enough to get Felix's attention. He put down his sword and got up to grab her a glass of water from a nearby table. When he returned, he gently helped her sit up so she could drink. Annette had never been so thankful for a simple glass of water. When she was finished, she stared down at the glass in her hand as she decided which question to ask first.

"How long was I out?" she croaked, throat still sore, but soothed some by the water.

"We took Fort Merceus almost two days ago." Felix answered.

"Oh... Have you been watching over me this whole time?"

"I have."

"But why?"

"Why? You passed out in a pool of your own blood and flower petals due to a lack of air and blood loss... Annette... I was afraid."

"Afraid? Felix Fraldarius doesn't get afraid."

"Annette I'm serious. I was afraid for you."

Annette couldn't meet his eyes. But she pushed on. "Why Felix?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Annette saw Felix scowl before he turned his head away from her towards the tent wall. "You could have died... I was afraid because I thought you were going to... I didn't want to think about losing you."

Annette's breath caught in her throat and she could feel her cheeks heating up. Now she turned her head completely away from Felix. She couldn't bear for him to give her false hope.

"Annette..."

She didn't respond, even when she felt him take her hand in his. She was too busy willing away tears to notice the fingers under her chin until they turned her head around. A pair of lips melted into her own and Annette gasped. Suddenly she felt years of pain and suffering melting away. She could fill her lungs clearing and her throat soothing. She pulled away from Felix and took a large inhale. When she exhaled her eyes lit up and the biggest smile split her lips. The tears she was holding back before came welling up again as she stared into Felix's eyes. This time though, they were happy tears.

"I'm... I'm cured," she whispered.

Felix couldn't help but smile back. "I love you Annette."

"I love you too."

Not long after, the two of them left the medical tent together and made their way to where the other Blue Lions were gathered. All the while Annette found herself taking deeper breaths than she had in years. She was on cloud nine. Her Hanahaki was no more.

**Author's Note:**

> Idk, I might come back to this and add more to the ending. I just wanted to get it posted tonight before Ao3 could delete my draft. But I still love NetteFlix with all my heart. For now though, bedtime.


End file.
